On June 22nd 2015, in Hartford, a bill has been signed by the Governor Daniel P Malloy that will start the process of allowing the first casino in the state to be built on non-tribal land.
Towns will then need to strive towards an agreement under the new law with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes in order to create a casino. The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes already operate casinos on reservations in southeastern Connecticut.?However, the bill will still need another vote from the General Assembly before any casino can be built.The signature from Malloy comes after the concerns over the legal status of the law.
The Attorney General George Jepsen raised legal worries when the bill was first introduced to the legislature. He said that by approving a casino to be built on land that is not tribal could violate the state’s agreement that it has with the tribes, which could the put the state revenue that is created from the casinos in danger.
The concerns that were raised by Jepsen provoked an amendment to the initial bill. This then resulted in a two-step process for the approval of a casino. In the House of Representatives, Jespen said that the bill had no instant legal problems.